The side of Cornwall, UK that tourists don’t see - 8 Worst Places

So, Cornwall is the second poorest region in Europe (I pretty much knew that, living in Dorset and it having been on the local news a few years back) but has the lowest crime rate in the country. Doesn't that give lie to the claim that poverty is the cause of crime?

I don't live in Cornwall but I've been to plenty of Cornish towns. I've also been to Leicester, Sheffield, Bradford, Dewsbury, Halifax, Boston, Doncaster, London and many more and I can tell you where I'd rather live. It's a sad truth that this country is in decline but that's not limited to Cornwall - it's EVERYWHERE. And it's largely government sponsored damage to the economy coupled with a pathological need to kill all town centres.

Thanks for all your hard work in putting this series together. Well as a 55 year old working class man, it looks to me that we’ve had approximately 45 years of deliberate government underinvestment in our country, that have decimated these working class towns from north to south of this land.

I've lived in Redruth all my life. I remember going into town and seeing it when it was busy, with lots of different shops and friendly people. Now there are only hairdressers, cafes, charity shops and random art shops that bring nothing to the community. People are angry now, not only because we are spending more money to live there than other nicer places, but because the people in charge of the town have no idea what they are doing, and you have to travel all the way to Truro if you want to buy a new pair of underwear, socks or shoes. We have a ton of homeless and druggies who get shipped off down here, and then they are left to do whatever they want with no repercussion. Every year there is a new "gang" of kids, who think they can do what they want (probably because the cops do nothing except laugh with them) who throw stuff at the windows of the town shops and peoples flats (mine included) breaking them, which then sit there for years looking like crap. They don't make any building inhabitable, in Town, because they're "Listed Buildings" and then charge people the same, or more, as it is to live in Truro; leaving us to live in a single pane windowed, black mould infested building.

Fun fact about Camborne, in the 18th/19th century the Camborne and Redruth district was the richest mining area in the world. I live in Camborne and I actually got called a "rich Cornish tory" the other day when I was debating with someone online 😂 So many people north of the Tamar bridge assume everyone in Cornwall has 3 houses and spends 12 hours a day on the beach. If only they knew most of us can't even afford to live here, with some of the highest house prices and lowest wages in the country

As someone from Rotherham I thought all those towns looked quite nice. They were all clean with no fly tipping waste, litter or dog sh*t laying in the street and nothing was on fire😂

This series is exposing that at least 20% of the UK is in terminal decline.

I have lived my life near to St Austell and whilst there are some bad parts in Cornwall I really wouldn't want to live anywhere else. The UK seems to be in a death spiral and over the next decade or so I can imagine a huge influx of people trying to escape from the cities.

Lived near Truro my entire life. The list is accurate. Redruth is known as Red-rough for example. But compared to many places around the UK it really isn't that bad unless you decide to go on nights out on Friday / Saturday nights, particularly St Austell. The biggest issue with Cornwall is people don't like change which stops any form of plans being approved. There has been planning for a new stadium near Truro for over 13 years, we still don't have one. Then the Hall for Cornwall, which caters for a small age group of people, was given £18m to refurbish the building. The wrong type of people making these decisions at the Council, only catering for themselves and close allies, much like most of the UK!

The worst thing about Camborne is that not every train stops there on Wednesdays.

I live in Cornwall and every town you mentioned has a very high, excuse the pun, drug problem. My best mate of 25 years moved to Penzanze and it definitely contributed to his decline in mental health and drug addiction then death!!. Something needs to be done for the whole of Cornwall because the drug problem is in EVERY place!! RIP JOE 🙏

Ironically, St Austell town centre was knocked down about 10ish years ago for the new White River Place development, which caused the beginning of the decline as people got used to going elsewhere if they could (usually Truro), and the town council put the rents up to claw money back which then pushed a lot of the independent businesses out. Add to it the two homeless shelters with the residents' incumbent problems and you've got yourself a winning TurdTown. I used to work outside of the town centre and my lift would frequently see drug deals going on in the car park, also someone once drove into the carpark of our building, in full view of all the windows, pulled down his trousers and injected something into his groin area. Also had a car left there which was later set on fire as an insurance job. Classy. People used to leave the building in twos, especially in the winter. Also the saying about Bodmin is because of St Lawrence's Hospital, which was a mental asylum. The old building has been demolished but the current hospital still houses all our mental health wards. Hope the chap in the fountain is doing OK.

If you think Cornwall's bad, you could always try: Bloxwich, Rugeley, West Bromwich, Skipton, Stockton, Blyth

Former mining towns are always grim. Single employer monocultures, where everyone who can gets out. Those left behind duke it out on Saturday nights or get wasted. In their hey day most of them would have been thriving communities, with social activities that go along with employment and money.

Redruth a town so bad they built a bypass to avoid it, then they built a new bypass to bypass the bypass. True story I live here.

I get these places are quite deprived but it feels pretty horrible to judge the people that live in these places for being poor and uneducated. Especially when the judgy, condescending jokes are delivered in a well-spoken accent by someone that sounds like they were lucky enough to benefit from growing up in a more affluent environment with better education and more opportunity.

I was born in Cornwall and moved when I was 18 for uni. Haven’t gone back since (apart from going down to visit family ). There is not much hope or opportunities for me or others my age (I am 27 now). People say to me “oh wow you are from Cornwall!! How lucky!) Feel like they need to see this video. Cornwall is amazing but isn’t all sunshine and roses! This is the accurate real Cornwall.

The irony is it's a lot worse during the holidays when the people from real turdtowns show up with their turdtown ways.

You got that spot on, just subscribed. Loved the comment from Rotherham saying it all looks nice as there was no fly tipping and nothing was on fire 😂

Your descriptions of each place you mention are very accurate. I met my wife (a Cornish girl) in Newquay in 1967. Then it was a great place with lots of nightlife, fabulous beaches and surfing. We went back in 2017 to find the place where we met. Newquay is now a shit-hole. We lived in London when we married but we then moved to St Austell in 1974. Easily the worst years of my life. Not much work and not much pay - a complete struggle. What was worse, though, was the fact that 75% of people would not speak to me once they found out I came from London. I managed to last three years down there but could not stand it anymore. We came back to London and civilisation.